Volleyball practice started on Monday for schools across Montague County and any school in the state smaller than 5A-6A classification.
While these teams are able to start at a normal time, one interesting thing about this season will be the lack of tournament play due to COVID-19 concerns.
A staple in not just volleyball but many sports that are used to playing multiple games a week, tournaments are useful early season tools for coaches to round out their team and build chemistry.
“Without having tournaments the girls don’t get the touches, the bonding, the time together to get that team feel early on,” Saint Jo Coach Charlie Hamilton said. “Tournaments not only get the girls into shape with multiples games daily, but it mentally helps them with being able to see other teams perform and getting to bond for many hours in a gym.”
One way teams can try to get around that is the allowance of duals, or matches between three teams at one site, to happen on Saturdays. Some coaches think this will be as good a substitute as they can have.
“It will somewhat keep that tournament atmosphere, but on a smaller scale,” Nocona Coach Tanya Samples said. “The impact will not be that tough to overcome.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.